Halifax Pride highlights

On Sunday, July 17, beginning at 1 p.m, the Halifax Common will be home to one of the wackiest baseball games known to humankind.

No doubt Abner Doubleday never imagined the Dykes vs. Divas game when he invented baseball.

It’s one of the most visible events of the Halifax Pride Festival and has grown from a small event to a major spectacle, attracting large crowds numbering in the thousands.

Once again, Jason Rose-Spurrell, one of the city’s most prominent drag queens, will be taking the microphone to announce the game.

“The players — both the Dykes and the Divas — come out in costumes, and for the Divas, the more sequins and big hair, the better,” Rose-Spurrell says. “You’ve never seen anything until you’ve seen a drag queen try to run between the bases wearing stilettos. However, some of them do bring their sneakers. And, you’ve not seen anything until you’ve seen four lesbians trying to take down a drag queen at one of the bases.”

He says the rules get thrown out really quickly.

So, if someone throws one of the bases out into the infield, it stays in place and that’s where the runners have to head, throwing the traditional diamond concept out the window.

Another tradition is to have a barbecue serving hotdogs at third base — to provide a bit of fuel to get back to home plate.

“It’s all in good fun and everyone has a big laugh.”

Another major event, which attracts hundreds of thousands to the downtown is the annual Halifax Pride Parade.

It’s grown from a small event, where some of the participants wore bags over their heads to protect their identities, to one that attracts groups of every size, shape and description.

“This year, the Halifax Regional Schoolboard is participating for the first time,” Ann Marie Danch, one of the co-ordinators of Highland Park School’s Gender Sexuality Alliance, says.

“I was speaking to the head and they’re encouraging teachers to either march with them or with the teacher’s union; they’ve got banners and are eager to join

the parade.”

The parade attracts floats from organizations such as Neptune Theatre, broadcasters, churches, youth groups, and with the potential of an election, even

political parties.

The Progressive Conservative Party first participated back in 1999 with three candidates, Jane Purves, Mary Ann McGrath and Sandy Phillips seated in the back of a convertible. This year, the leader, Jamie Baillie, will be participating with a cadre of supporters.

“We are proud to once again join in the Halifax Pride Parade,” Baillie said. “The spirit of equality fits with our core progressive conservative values of individual rights and freedoms for all.”